Silvia Pinal Hidalgo (12September 193128November 2024) was a Mexican actress and politician. She began her career in theatre before venturing into cinema in 1949. She became one of the greatest female stars of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and, with her performance in Shark! (1969), part of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Her work in film and popularity in her native country led Pinal to work in Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy. Pinal achieved international recognition by starring in a trilogy of films directed by Luis Buñuel: Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1965).
In addition to her film career, Pinal pioneered musical theatre in Mexico, had a successful career in television, and held a series of public roles and political offices, including First Lady of Tlaxcala in the 1980s and elected terms in the Chamber of Deputies, the Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District, and the Senate of the Republic. She was considered "the last diva" of the Golden Age of Mexican film.
Early life Silvia Pinal Hidalgo was born in Guaymas, Sonora, on 12September 1931. Her parents were María Luisa Hidalgo Aguilar and Moisés Pasquel. Pasquel was an orchestra conductor at radio station XEW by whom Hidalgo Aguilar became pregnant when she was 15 years old. Her father did not acknowledge Pinal as his child, and she did not know him until she was 11 years old. Her biological father sired three more children: Eugenio, Moisés, and Virginia. However, Pinal never spent time with the Pasquel family. Pinal spent her first years behind the counter of a seafood restaurant near XEW, where her mother worked. When she was five years old, her mother married Luis G. Pinal, a journalist, military man, and politician 20 years her senior. Pinal subsequently adopted Silvia as his daughter and, in later interviews, she described Pinal as her only father. Pinal also had three daughters from a previous marriage: Mercedes, Beatriz and Eugenia. Luis Pinal held several public positions, including serving as the municipal president of Tequisquiapan, Querétaro.
Pinal had an interest in show business since she was a child. In addition to film and music, she liked to write and recite poems.Pinal (1996), p. 15 She studied first at Pestalozzi College in Cuernavaca and then at the Washington Institute in Mexico City. Despite her artistic aspirations, her father cautioned her to look for "something useful", so she learned to type. At age 14, she began working as a secretary at Kodak.
Pinal went to study opera and began preparing by taking classes, first with a private teacher and then with Professor Reyes Retana. Her first step toward fame occurred when she was invited to participate in a beauty pageant. In this contest, Pinal obtained the title of Student Princess of Mexico. At her coronation, she met the actors Rubén Rojo and Manolo Fábregas, with whom she became close friends.Pinal (1996), p. 28 While studying bel canto, Pinal went to work as a secretary in the pharmaceutical laboratories of Carlos Stein. At the music academy, Pinal auditioned for a role in the opera La Traviata. However, the audition was a failure. A teacher encouraged her to take acting courses at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA), where she was a classmate of figures such as Carlos Pellicer, Salvador Novo and Xavier Villaurrutia.Pinal (1996), p. 31 She debuted as an extra in a performance of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Career
Beginning Pinal continued working in the advertising department of a pharmaceutical products firm. Aware that she was studying acting, her boss allowed her to participate in recording radio comedies for the station XEQ. She debuted in the comedy Dos pesos la dejada.
At the radio station, Pinal met publicists who invited her to join an experimental company. With that company, she debuted in the play Los caprichos de Goya. The director of this work was the Cuban-Mexican actor and director Rafael Banquells, with whom Pinal began an employment relationship and a close friendship that led to romance. Banquells got Carlos Laverne to allow them to use Mexico City's Ideal Theater for their productions. Laverne chose Pinal to participate in a montage with the company of the Ideal Theater, directed by the Spanish actress Isabelita Blanch. The work was called Nuestra Natacha. Pinal acted in numerous productions for this company. Her first starring role was in Un sueño de cristal.García Riera (1996), p. 22
Film Just fifteen days after she debuted in the theater, Pinal made her debut in the cinema with a brief role in Bamba (1949), starring Carmen Montejo and directed by Miguel Contreras Torres. Contreras Torres had seen her work at the Ideal Theatre and invited her to participate in the project. Contreras Torres was a demanding, strict director who made Pinal suffer for her inexperience. That same year, she performed in the film , directed by Julián Soler and starring Meche Barba. In that film, she worked for the first time in cinema with Rafael Banquells, who had become her husband. Immediately, she played another small role in the movie Escuela para casadas, by Miguel Zacarías. Pinal met and worked for the first time with the actor and singer Pedro Infante in the film La mujer que yo perdí. The actor and comedian Cantinflas (a close personal friend) chose Pinal as his co-star in El portero (1950). Her breakthrough participation was in the comedy El rey del barrio (1949), co-starring with Germán Valdés "Tin Tan", directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares. Pinal and Tin Tan acted together in two more films: La marca del zorrillo (1950) and Me traes de un ala (1952).
Pinal won her first Silver Ariel as a supporting actress for her performance in the film Un rincón cerca del cielo (1952), where she worked again with Infante. In 1952, she performed with Joaquín Pardavé in the comedies Doña Mariquita de mi corazón and El casto Susano. In 1953, Pinal got her first starring roles in the films Reventa de esclavas (1953) and Yo soy muy macho (1953). In that same year, she performed in the musical film Mis tres viudas alegres, where she shared credits with Lilia del Valle and the Cuban rumba dancer Amalia Aguilar. They also starred in the comedy Las cariñosas. That same year, she acted with Libertad Lamarque in Si volvieras a mí.
Pinal gained success and recognition in 1954 after appearing in the film Un extraño en la escalera, directed by Tulio Demicheli, where she starred alongside Arturo de Córdova. Initially, de Córdova preferred either the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida or the Cuban rumba dancer Rosa Carmina as his co-stars, due to his reservations about Pinal's youth. With the support of the producer Gregorio Walerstein, Pinal transformed her image, emphasizing her sex appeal, which ultimately led to de Córdova's approval for the role. The movie became a major success, solidifying Pinal's status as a leading film actress.García Riera (1996), p. 65–66
Another director who effectively utilized Pinal's acting skills was Alberto Gout. Under his direction, Pinal starred in La sospechosa (1954). Pinal participated in (1954), a film in which Pinal co-starred with actresses María Elena Marqués, Columba Domínguez and Irasema Dilián. With Tito Davison as director, Pinal also filmed the Mexican-Spanish-Chilean co-production Cabo de Hornos (1955), along with the actor Jorge Mistral. Pinal worked again with Pedro Infante as his co-star in the celebrated comedy El inocente (1955). Pinal starred in several films by Demicheli, including (1955), which would bring her first Silver Ariel Award as best actress. Her second was thanks to her role in the film La dulce enemiga (1957), directed by Davison. In 1956, Pinal starred in Una cita de amor (1956), where she worked under the direction of Emilio Fernández.
Pinal's popularity and success in Mexico paved the way for her to work in Europe, following the advice of Demicheli. Her first project was the Spanish-Mexican co-production Las locuras de Bárbara (1958), directed by Demicheli. Under his direction, she also starred in the Spanish musical film Charlestón. Given the success of her films in Europe, Pinal was invited to work in Italy, co-starring with Vittorio de Sica and Elke Sommer in the film Uomini e Nobiluomini (1959). Under the direction of José María Forqué, Pinal starred in the Spanish film Maribel y la extraña familia (1960). In 1961, she filmed the Spanish musical film , along with Fernando Fernán Gómez.
Pinal had her first contact with Luis Buñuel through Mexican actor Ernesto Alonso, with the firm intention of starring in the film version of Pérez Galdós's novel Tristana in the 1950s. However, the limited commercial success of Buñuel's films prevented the producers from financing the project. By the end of the 1960s, Buñuel shot the film in Spain with Catherine Deneuve instead. Years later, Pinal, with the help of her second husband, producer Gustavo Alatriste, looked for Buñuel in Spain and convinced him to film Viridiana (1961), also loosely based on a Pérez Galdós novel. It was the winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Despite the success and prestige enjoyed by the film, it was rejected by the Spanish censorship board (Spain was under the Franco dictatorship) and the Vatican at the time, who described the film as blasphemous. The film was saved through Pinal's intervention, when she fled to Mexico with a copy.Pinal (2015), p. 170 The Vatican censorship also resonated in Mexico, but with the help of Salvador Novo, the film had a limited release.
Pinal achieved international acclaim through a trilogy. Her second film with Buñuel was El ángel exterminador (1962), in which Pinal starred with a choral cast. The film also received critical acclaim worldwide. In 2004, The New York Times recognized it among the best films ever. Her third and last project with Buñuel was Simón del desierto (1964). The film, misrepresented as a medium-length feature, was initially conceived as an episodic film. Pinal and Gustavo Alatriste looked for Federico Fellini to direct a second episode, but Fellini accepted only on the condition that his wife, Giulietta Masina, star in it. They then sought out Jules Dassin, who likewise said he would accept the project only on the condition that his wife, Melina Mercouri, star; Pinal also rejected this condition. The idea was that Pinal should star in all the episodes, so Buñuel ended up filming the project himself.Interview with Silvia Pinal: Simón del desierto In the film, Pinal also made the first nude appearance in her career, an act still rare in Mexican cinema and the first nude scene in Buñuel's films.García Riera (1996), p. 108
Pinal was also on the verge of starring with Buñuel in the film Diary of a Chambermaid in France. She learned French and was willing to receive no pay for her role. However, French producer Serge Silberman ended up choosing Jeanne Moreau.Taller de Actores Profesionales (TAP): Silvia Pinal Pinal was also going to shoot with Buñuel in Spain on Divinas palabras, but there were problems obtaining a copyright for the film. Years later, Pinal finally shot the movie in Mexico with Juan Ibáñez, featuring a nude scene.